Wow - has it been two weeks already?

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. Time flies when you're having fun. Or incredibly busy. Or sick. Again. I have a horrible cold for the third time in six weeks and another eye infection. Sophie just finished her 2nd course of stronger antibiotics and is still coughing and dripping like a faucet. EJ, thankfully, has only missed one day of school in all of this, but did lose her voice for another day or two. And Sunday night, K came down with it too. Miserable. But we're sharing it like a good family should, I guess.

Okay, on to what's happened in the last few weeks.

EJ had a presentation at school last week about Native Americans. Her group covered the Northwest Indians:

I celebrated my 38th birthday (again, and again...and well, maybe some more). Honestly, the cake had a 38 on it! Of course, that was because EJ couldn't find the "4" candle anywhere, so she used 38 and then added a few. She and Sophie got me a lovely tea-themed gift (a new mug, some tea, and teacup ornaments for the Christmas tree) that she went shopping for with dad.

For Turkey Day, we traveled to my brother's family's house north of Philadelphia. Thanks, bro, for hosting! Hope none of you are sick this week. Everything was yummy! On Friday, we took a drive into the city. EJ has wanted to see the Liberty Bell for years, but usually we're there in passing and never have a few extra hours to make it into the city, so we made sure we got there this year. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's grave, Betsy Ross' house, and Elfreth Alley. And, we had a great cheesesteak for lunch with soft pretzels for an afternoon snack. Other than the frigid wind, it was a great day. EJ commented on the way back to my brother's, "That was even more fun than I thought it would be!" The girl loves history! I guess I owe a big shout out to the American Girl company for helping with that.

We drive back to New England on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Sophie decided to read the newspaper.

EJ is taking art lessons this year with an artist here in town who teaches group classes. Here is a picture of Sophie she sketched in the back seat of the van on the way home:

And this was the project in class she most recently finished. I think it's pretty darn good! This week, she started a drawing of giraffes.

Sophie Can Walk!!!

Last night, while dinner was cooking, K was in on the family room floor playing with Sophie. She was standing up on her own and she looked like she wanted to take a step in the worst way, but just stood there and smiled at him. A little while later, I went in and stood her up, held onto her mid-section to get her balanced a bit, and then scooted back and reached out for her. She took three little steps toward me! We all saw it and we made such a big deal out of it that she sat there and clapped for herself and laughed for several minutes. Very cute.

So, we stood her up to do it again, and again, and again. And she got quicker each time to the point where she just started to fall forward into my arms and laugh without even taking a step. And when I would stand her back up and try to steady her before letting go, she would push my arms out of the way...she didn't want any help, I guess! We did catch it on video and will try to get a clip loaded in the next few days.

A very touching side story is that EJ was SO excited to see her little sis walk for the first time. After Sophie was able to repeat it a few times, EJ looked at us and said, "I'm so excited for her I could cry!" and her eyes were all misty. How sweet is that? They just love each other so much.

Of course, it won't be all sweet and lovey at all when Sophie can walk over and mess up all of EJ's stuff.

Misc

A few random items:

Yesterday was a wonderful day. We had a travel reunion with all of our China travelmates and Sophie got to visit with all of her "China sisters" (girls who were adopted on the same trip)! We had a fantastic time...it was so good to see each other after 5 months or so of being home with the girls. We all met for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We had folks traveling from all over New England to be there, and it was wonderful. We attempted to recreate the famous Red Couch photo from the White Swan (click here for the original), but these cuties are too darn mobile now to corral them all:

Here is my favorite photo from the day--Sophie wtih Lillian, the owner/director of China Adoption With Love, our agency. I'm so glad she could come and meet the babies! Sophie went right into her arms, which says a lot, because Sophie is very shy until she warms up to you...apparently, she sensed how special Lillian is in our lives!

Let's see...it's been a while since we've had an EJ fashion posting, so here's an outfit from her fall collection:

And finally, Sophie discovered the magic that is mint chocolate chip ice cream:

Tea for Two

EJ decided to have a tea party with Sophie on Sunday evening. EJ set up everything, "poured the tea" into Sophie's cup, and then sat back to enjoy, but all Sophie wanted to do was bang the cups together:

Strike a Pose

I thought I would take EJ's picture the other night. She had on a skirt that Grandma H had sent her for the start of school and a new sweater that I bought her from Land's End in the spring. Here are the results of the photo shoot:

I swear she just gets sillier by the hour...

Trick? No thanks, I'll have the treat!

Happy Halloween! It's been a crazy day here...I'm still sick, but made it to work for most of the day, but was in meetings where I talked a lot all day, so I have no voice left. Then there was a mad rush through dinner to get out trick-or-treating. Sophie was fascinated by the whole thing, just looking at everyone who was dressed up and smiling at all the neighbors. We live in a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating...about 40 houses in 2 developments with very little traffic.

Sophie was a leopard cub. Here she is this morning before her school party. K tried to get a shot with her ears on, but she wanted nothing to do with them.


After dressing as Harry Potter last year, EJ decided to be Hermione (from Harry Potter) this year. All we needed to buy was a wig:


Sophie agreed to keep her ears on if she could sit on EJ's lap for a few minutes.


We took Sophie to a few houses and then K and EJ did the rest of the loop. While Sophie and I passed out candy, she was happy to keep the ears on, as long as she could be distracted with bags of pretzels in each hand.

She was so cute, right down to her little pumpkin shoes:

Hmmm....wonder what Mom's hiding in this box? Every time I open the lid, it cackles in a witch's voice...

Oh, look! Lindt chocolate bars!!! Yummy! But darn, they have nuts and I can't eat those yet!

Before we eat one, let's check out the nutritional label. Um, Mom, this doesn't look healthy...

Perhaps we should take them all out of this box so no one eats this unhealthy stuff...

Later, Hermione came back and dumped out her loot on the kitchen table.

I thought I might get a nibble, but she immediately went to work categorizing and counting the candy (63 pieces total - 5 M&Ms, 2 bags of popcorn, etc.). And ZERO chance of me stealing any.

But that's okay, I'll just work my way through the rest of the case of Lindt bars. Just don't tell that nice woman at my office who runs the Weight Watchers at Work program. I'll just bite my tongue through tomorrow's meeting.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying a sugar high right now...

And just in case you think I'm passing out Lindt bars because I won the lottery or something, I'll let you in on a little shopping secret...there are Lindt chocolate outlet stores, and in late August, they were selling these candy bars for 25 cents each! We average anywhere between 50-80 trick-or-treaters each year, so it only seemed logical to buy a whole case of them. That's right, 144 bars for $36. I'll have to see if they offer this promotion next year...!!!

Thanks to being sick the last few days, I haven't yet mustered up the stamina to write anything heavy about the Sox winning the World Series. I'm thrilled, but not in the same magical way as 2004...this win seemed more destined after the terrific season they had (even with the shaky last few weeks). I do hope they re-sign Mike Lowell, who in my mind was quite worthy of the MVP - not that I would have been upset had Pedroia won it either. Curt? Take him or leave him. He still seems like a valuable contribution, but maybe not $12 million valuable. Maybe for $8-10 million I'd keep him. I think Wakefield will be back...I mean, winning 17 games at his age is something to be proud of. Coco will most likely be traded now that we know Jacoby Ellsbury can cover the outfield sufficiently.

As for A-Rod and the possibility of him playing shortstop for the Sox (since I hope Lowell will be at third), I say NO THANKS! Not that I don't think he's a talented player who will break a lot of records and make it to the Hall of Fame, I just don't think he's a team player. I also just can't imagine him being warmly welcomed in Boston by the fans, or even by most of the players (remember the infamous shoving match with Varitek? or the ball-swatting incident with Arroyo?). Let's hope he finds greener pastures elsewhere...

Sweep for the Sox?

It's the seventh inning of the 4th game, and Mike Lowell just hit a homerun in the top of the 7th to make it a 3-0 lead. Will they sweep the Rockies just as they swept the Cardinals three years ago? Only a few more innings to go!

My girls' weekend was fantastic, except that on Friday morning when I woke up I had the worst sinus headache and runny nose. After last weekend's sore throat went away, I thought the worst had passed, but I have a HORRIBLE cold now. Fun was had nonetheless. On Friday night, we sat around and gabbed for hours. Saturday was very rainy, but we drove down to Freeport anyway, had a great lunch of clam chowder and lobster stew and sandwiches, did some shopping, and then came back to settle in for the Sox game with a takeout pizza! What fun! This morning, we hiked around B's property. I came home a bit early to give K some relief from the girls so he could get the leaves up off the lawn. And EJ is sick - sore throat and slight fever. Hopefully, she'll feel better in the morning and won't have to miss school.

Anyway, here are my gal pals, enjoying the morning sun on the dock. I've been friends with these ladies for more than a decade now, and I really appreciate their friendship and support over the years. Thanks, B, for inviting us all up to Camp Foggy Bottom!